Fluorescence and Raman Spectroscopy

Service Manager: Dr Andrew Beeby

Fluorescence spectroscopy

Fluorescence spectroscopy is a powerful technique for the study of many types of material. As an analytical technique it can offer a high degree of selectivity and sensitivity and is widely used in the materials and bio-sciences. Routine measurements of absorption excitation and emission spectra across the UV, visible and near IR can be made using steady-state technologies, whilst time resolved measurements can be used to determine routine parameters such as excited state lifetimes or in the discrimination of signals from individual components of the mixture.

Raman Spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy allows the determination of vibrational spectra and is complimentary to infrared measurements. The technique relies upon inelastic scattering of visible radiation. It requires very little sample preparation and is non-destructive: samples can often be investigated without taking them out of the sample vial! The technique also lends itself to hyperspectral imaging, where a Raman spectral map of a sample can be built up by scanning. The use of visible light in this technique provides high spatial resolution, < 1 µm, compared to IR imaging.